


Familiar Nightmare

by thekingslover



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25870090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekingslover/pseuds/thekingslover
Summary: Nicky trembles in Joe’s arms, enough to rouse Joe from his deep, pleasant sleep. Limbs twitching, Nicky turns his face into the pillow.“Yusuf,” he gasps in such soft horror that Joe’s whole body runs cold.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 21
Kudos: 584





	Familiar Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my nickyjoe tumblr sideblog, monicashipsnickyjoe. Main blog is thekingslover
> 
> Prompt was: “It’s okay, you’re okay, I’ve got you now” Neck kisses [from this prompt list](https://monicashipsnickyjoe.tumblr.com/post/625028790188408833)

Nicky trembles in Joe’s arms, enough to rouse Joe from his deep, pleasant sleep. Limbs twitching, Nicky turns his face into the pillow. He whimpers and mumbles incoherently, but between the broken, unfinished sentences, Joe can discern his name.

“ _Yusuf_ ,” Nicky gasps in such soft horror that Joe’s whole body runs cold. Whatever sleep lingered in Joe vanishes in an instant.

“Nicky.” Joe kisses the back of Nicky’s neck. He runs his palm across the length of Nicky’s forearm from wrist to elbow and back again. 

Nicky sobs and Joe’s entire heart breaks.

“Nicky,” Joe says again, more urgently. He brings his hand to Nicky’s shoulder and lightly jostles him. “ _Nicolo_.”

He knows the moment Nicky opens his eyes. Nicky’s whole body stills. His breath comes in shuddering waves with long pauses between.

“It’s okay,” Joe whispers into his skin, beside the soft kisses he leaves. “You’re okay.”

“Joe?” Nicky says, a thousand questions in his watery voice.

“I’m here.” Joe returns his arm across Nicky’s waist.

Nicky finds that arm and holds on with both hands.

“I’ve got you,” Joe says. He buries his nose at the collar of Nicky’s t-shirt. “It was only a dream, beloved.”

Nicky’s breaths grow stronger, one after the next.

“You are safe,” Joe assures him.

Nicky asks, “Are you?”

Joe would smile at Nicky’s protective instincts, even half-asleep, if the question did not rip him apart inside. Joe knows the dream now. He shares it, sometimes. How difficult it could be, to watch the love of your life run head-first into danger. To watch them fall. To hold them as they die and wonder if they will ever awaken.

An old, familiar nightmare that has haunted them both since they learned of Lykon, before they ever pressed their bedrolls together and shared their warmth and their hearts. Since then, it’s grown. With each passing year, it grows.

“I am safe,” Joe tells him. “I am here with you, in our hotel room, in our bed. We are together.”

Nicky inhales deeply. On the exhale, his body loses tension. He sinks into Joe’s chest.

“I can’t…” Nicky starts, voice trailing, and Joe shushes him softly.

“I know. You don’t have to say it.”

“Don’t let go,” Nicky says, softer. Barely a whisper in the dark.

“You have my vow,” Joe says. He peppers soft kisses to the back of Nicky’s neck and shoulder, until Nicky sighs and falls asleep once more.

Joe stays awake, watchful. Nicky will not suffer that dream again tonight.

He’s bone-tired in the morning, but it’s worth it when Nicky turns toward him, kisses him, and says, “Thank you.”

Joe makes a pillow of Nicky’s chest. Nicky runs his fingers through Joe’s hair, tugging gently at the curls.

“Sleep,” Nicky says. “It is my turn to watch over you.”

Joe, content again now that his love is, closes his eyes and lets Nicky’s steady heartbeat lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


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